The United States of America today officially designated Jemmah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224.
JAT is an Indonesia-based group. The three-year-old group was behind a Java church bombing last September, deadly attacks on Indonesia policemen and bank robberies aimed at raising money for weapons and bomb materials.
According to the US State Department, the designations coincide with the Department of the Treasury’s designation of three JAT leaders. The three leaders were JAT acting emir Mochammad Achwan, spokesman Son Hadi bin Muhadjir, and recruiter and fundraiser Abdul Rosyid Ridho Ba’asyir.
Jemmah Anshorut Tauhid is the founder and leader of JAT and a UN 1267 listed individual. He was convicted and sentenced to prison in 2011 for his role in organizing a militant training camp in Aceh.
Bashir was the alleged founder and chief ideologue of the better-known violent group Jemaah Islamiya. He is responsible for a string of attacks including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people. Intelligence agencies and the UN claim he is the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah and has links with Al-Qaeda.
Jemaah Islamiya was added to the United Nations 1267 Committee’s list of terrorist organizations on 25th October 2002.
The notorious JAT group has conducted multiple attacks targeting civilians and Indonesian officials, resulting in the deaths of several Indonesian police.
“These designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to abandon terrorism.” – U.S. State Department
The sanctions against the group include banning US citizens and businesses from any transactions with them and a prohibition against knowingly providing material support or resources to, or engaging in other transactions with JAT, and the freezing of all the organization’s property and interests in property in the United States.
